Monday, July 21, 2008

On Friday I posted about reading at the Francelia Butler Conference at Hollins University. It was the first time I shared my poem publicly. I know, I know, I post poems here all the time. BUT there is a net of safety there. I don't have to see your faces when you read my poetry. I don't hear your comments like "She thinks she's a POET?!" And of course, I share my poetry with all of my fourth graders all of the time. But once again, there is a net of safety there. They think everything I write is wonderful, which is probably why I've continued to write poetry all of this time.

This summer I have been writing poems, not just for me, but I got brave enough to share with other people. I grew up overseas and the collection of poems I'm working on is based on some of my experiences trying to fit in and be comfortable in multiple cultures, yet still be who I am. The poems are set in Salem, Virginia, ChiangMai, Thailand, and Penang, Malaysia--three places I have spent significant time.

A few weeks ago I submitted some of these poems for consideration in the Francelia Butler Conference. My poems were chosen, which meant that I would be one of seven people with creative submissions to read aloud at the conference. Seven critical papers were chosen also.

I was a bundle of nerves because I knew there were poets in the audience, and I wondered if they would know I didn't know what I was doing.

This year's theme was a Dr. Seuss theme, because Philip Nel, author of The Annotated Cat:Under the Hats of Seussand His Cats and Dr. Suess: American Icon, was the keynote speaker. Fellow students performed a Suessical Musical between readings, and it kept the day lively and fun. There was a silent auction, in which I won three things: a picture from The Tale of Despereaux, a lovely photograph of a clemetis donated by Sharon Dennis Wyeth, and a book of poetry by Billy Collins.

There is always a winner for each category: creative, critical, and art. After listening to the amazing stories crafted by my six other fellow readers, I knew I didn't stand a chance of winning. That's what's so amazing about Hollins--being in the company of so many good writers that you admire. I am always very impressed at how much good writing is produced in such a small group.

But when the winners were announced, they called my name! Yes, I won the Shirley Henn Award for Creative Scholarship. Wow! I was humbled and surprised!

Even if I hadn't won, this reading gave me a chance to share my work publicly. Several people came up to me during the break and shared how much they liked it. Two people introduced themselves: one is from Taiwan, and one lived in Malaysia, and both said they related to my poems. What a huge compliment. That's what I was hoping for. Other people were kind enough to just give me words of encouragement. Thank you! Thank you!

Hollins students are the ones who actually narrow down all of the submissions to a list of finalists. Then other writers actually judge the finalists. When I read the list of judges, I was so excited. The judges were: Bruce Coville, Steve Jenkins, Kerry Madden, Claudia Mills, and Janet Wong. I'm fans of all of their work, and it was an honor just to have them take the time to read something I had written.

The Memoir Monday prompt was to write about something that you did that you didn't think was possible. Believe it or not, this was it. I really never imagined I would share my poetry with anyone but my students. Now, thanks to a lot of encouragement from my friends at Hollins, I have the courage to share it with others.

Both of these books cover what my students really have to know: 1) that Benjamin Franklin proved that lightning was really electricity in his kite experiment, and 2) that he invented the lightning rod which protected buildings from damage and fires from lightning.

Now and Ben talks about how things we use today are things that Ben Franklin invented. So many things we use today began with Ben. Barretta sets up the book by saying “Now…” (insert one of the inventions we use today) and “Ben” (insert how Ben Franklin created this). The text is simple and short, but still goes through many of the inventions and contributions that we know Franklin for.

How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning actually covers some of the same material, but it spends a little more time on Franklin and his experiments with electricity. Schanzer goes into detail about the kite experiment, the lightning rod, but also the way that people used to perform electrifying tricks—actually shocking people.

Both books are very light in tone. They are humorous to read and are nothing like reading a textbook. They present the information in a very interesting way.

This would be another great pair of books to use with kids to do “Text-to-Text Connections.”

Friday, July 18, 2008

For the last five weeks I've been taking an Advanced Writing Tutorial at Hollins under the brilliant tutelage of Sharon Dennis Wyeth. I'm writing, critiquing, and moving forward with my class which consists of only five students. Our motto for the tutorial is "Write On!" and Sharon and my tutorial-mates have really pushed me to write on.

I'm working on a collection of poetry about growing up between cultures, which I have posted some of those early drafts here and here.

Hollins has a conference every year where students can read both critical and creative works. Only seven students are chosen for each category. I was surprised to learn I'll be reading my poetry tomorrow for the conference. It's the Francelia Butler Conference and this year, Philip Nel, Dr. Seuss expert, will be speaking.

I loved this book so much, that my grade level recently bought it to use in our electricity unit. It’s very hard to find good trade books about electricity that are written on a kids’ level, give the basic information, but aren’t too basic. Our textbook is okay, but I wanted something more. I found it in this book.

This book begins by talking about what electricity is and how electrons dance. Then it explains how electricity gets from the power plant to your house. Details of step up- and step down-transformers are explained. It talks about substations, transmission towers, and even what all those wires behind a light switch are. The text is easy to read, but doesn’t talk down to kids. Suen even uses interesting language, so that it doesn’t feel like you are reading a textbook. The heading of each page actually becomes a poem if you read just the headings from beginning to end.

The illustrations in this book are pretty, yet informative. They are simple, but detailed. Contradiction? No, they are perfect for this book. They are not the common diagrams and drawings you see in a textbook. Instead they are acrylic mixed media illustrations that are pleasing to the eye, uncluttered, and very detailed for showing the different parts that is talked about in the text.

As a science teacher, I give it an A+. I will be using it every year with my electricity unit!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

The Miss Rumphius Effect posted a Tuesday poetry stretch that challenged us to use the terms "loose change" in a poem. I must confess, I cheated. I wrote this poem the other day, but I knew the words "loose change" would fit better than the phrase I used. So I exchanged two of my words for two of her words and wah-la! Here it is:

Coke Man

The Coke manparks his cartby the school gateswaitingfor droves of childrenhot, tired,thirsty,coins ringingin their pockets.

Bottle pops open,fizzy liquid flows into abag,secured with a rubber bandin one corner,a straw hole in the other.

Monday, July 7, 2008

I pass by the red brick housewhere I climbed in the dogwood tree,crashed my sled into a fence,caught frogs in the creek,danced to the high school band,transformed into Princess Lea,hunted for Easter Eggs,first got stung by a bee.

I'm so excited about all of the people who do "challenges" for those of us who love to write. I'm taking some of the challenges. Some I'll just do in my journal. Others I'll share with the blog readers.

Ever since this book began winning awards left and right, I knew I wanted to read it. I love interesting, beautiful nonfiction books. This book fits both of those descriptions. Perhaps I’ve lived in a hole, but this is the only book that I know of that I’ve read by Nic Bishop. I don’t think I have EVER seen a book with pictures as exquisitely detailed and fascinating as the photos in this book.

The book is all about spiders. It gives the basics about spiders: body parts, characteristics, etc. You know, all of those basic things I learned about spiders from E.B. White in Charlotte’s Web. However, Nic Bishop introduces readers to spiders and facts about spiders that I have never heard of. The text is not overly simple, but each spread is also not covered with heavy text. This is a book that kids will pick up, read and stare in awe at the pictures. It contains about a paragraph on each page about spiders. An entire page is a magnified picture of a spider. We see spiders’ eyes, hairs, and body parts up close and personal. Each picture is accompanied by captions about that specific spider.

The color layout is beautiful too. Each page with text has a colored background that coordinates with the colors in the photograph. It’s not a visually busy book. It’s simply laid out, but the pictures are anything but simple. Bishop is a master at photographing these hard-to-spot arachnids. In fact, in the back of the book he writes an author’s note about how he photographed the spiders. In some cases it was quite complicated.

I have done very little posting the past few months. I have had a lot going on and it seems blogging took a back seat. So, I'm determined I'm going to continue blogging, even if I don't crank out book reviews at good speed. I have stacks of books sitting on the floor waiting to be reviewed. But I've been using my time lately to write, and write, and write, and revise, and revise, and garden, and read, and enjoy summer a little bit. I'm taking a class which is helping me to push forward with a writing project that will eventually be my thesis for my M.F.A. It's been good to get back to writing more and more.

Even though I haven't been blogging, I have been doing some fun things. Here are some things I've been doing:

* Strawberry picking--which gave us with lots of frozen berries and strawberry jam

* Camping--at Lake Roberstson. Lots of relaxation, book reading, writing took place there.

* Cooking--I've been getting a produce box weekly from a local organic farm. I've also gone to the farmer's market every week, and we've been growing our own veggies. I have only been the grocery store for milk and the occasional thing like flour or sugar. It's a been a fabulously healthy, creative way to enjoy the summer. I have had to figure out new ways to cook things.

Friday, July 4, 2008

While posting for Poetry Friday, I found this quiz over at In Search of Giants.

So, which book am I? Anne of Green Gables. Probably the book I read over and over and over and over again as a kid. It was the book that prompted me to go to Prince Edward Island. This book influenced me in so many ways. What the description says about my personality, I don't necessarily agree with, but I think it's weird that this was THE book the quiz chose.

You're Anne of Green Gables!

by L.M. Montgomery

Bright, chipper, vivid, but with the emotional fortitude of cottagecheese, you make quite an impression on everyone you meet. You're impulsive, rash,honest, and probably don't have a great relationship with your parents. People hurtyour feelings constantly, but your brazen honestly doesn't exactly treat others withkid gloves. Ultimately, though, you win the hearts and minds of everyone that matters.You spell your name with an E and you want everyone to know about it.

I am taking Advanced Writing Tutorial from Hollins University for my MFA in Children's Literature. My project, which will eventually be my thesis, is a collection of poetry about living between cultures. It is titled, Between the Lines. In the spirit of 4th of July, I'm sharing a poem about something that always comes to my mind when I think of summer--baseball.

World Series

I watched the World Series on videotape long after the first pitch landed in the catcher’s mitt, long after the victory parties ended, long after I read the final scores in the paper.

I watched the World Series on videotape anyway, because it made me feel like an American in a land where they play cricket.